Renewed Inspiration

Inspiration can truly come at the weirdest times. I'm currently watching Robots with my son and there is scene where the father robot is talking to his son and says something about if he had it to do over he would follow his dream. He tells the son to go the Robot City and never, never give up. Well, my dream back in high school was to move to a big city and be a CEO of a fortune 500 company.
I can tell you that I've already accomplished a part of my dream. I've moved to a big city (St. Paul) from a teeny tiny town in Montana. The mere fact that I could name every single person in my whole HIGH SCHOOL proves how small it was. Now, I live in a metropolitan area and while I enjoy getting away from the hustle, I also truly enjoy living in a place where I can get Chinese food at 2 a.m. I can go to a major concert, see an orchestra, visit a museum, and watch an IMAX movie all in one day. I also work in a fortune 200 company. I may never be the CEO since my priorities have definitely changed, but I could still be a director or manager which will suit me just fine.
Lately I've been a lot mixed up as far as what I want out of life. I'm usually pretty torn between being a corporate mom or a house wife. While I LOVE my kids and cherish every single second I get to spend with them, I don't think that I need to completely sacrifice my original dreams. I feel like there is plenty of room for a decent job and a great family life. I'm sure that I may change my tune in a few days as I'm still riding that hormonal roller coaster that is having a baby. I feel like I should "never, never give up". It may take me longer than I had originally planned, but I also have two beautiful children that I hadn't planned on either. The important thing is that keep following my dreams, even if they continue to change!

Peeks and Valleys

I know, I spelled "Peeks" the way I wanted. I want to start blogging more often so now I'm going to try and do a weekly blog with a peek into my family and work life and, to suffice my ranting tendencies, some valleys that I experience.

∴PEEKS∴
We've started our seedlings! We have tiny little plant buds awaiting our transplant. It's still about 3-4 weeks from our "last frost" date so it they will have a lot of time to become good, solid plants! The Prince is so excited each day when he sees the little green buds popping out of the dirt. He was instrumental in helping with the planting process. By "instrumental" I mean, he basically shuffled the dirt from the bag to the table and a little bit of it landed in the pots!
The SweetPea is growing like crazy! She can stand if you hold her, she rolls from front to back and back to front, AND she smiles, coos, and babbles as much as she can. I love her so much, it's silly to think that I once wasn't sure how she would fit into our family. She also had her first taste of solid foods about a week ago! Note to mom: I do not like rice cereal!
It's Administrative Professionals Day today. I received numerous thank yous, a beautiful fragrant bouquet of flowers, and a few cards! It's nice to know that I'm appreciated.

∴valleys∴
The Husband is off again this evening and I feel like a single mother lately! He goes to class until 9 p.m. two nights a week and he's now off on another school related "project". I just hope he makes some good contacts as his graduation date looms with not a lot of job prospects!
It's Administrative Professionals Day today. I don't particularly like the idea that all my co-workers think of me as an "admin". I personally think that this day should be renamed to "Employee Appreciation Day" it would be all encompassing and it wouldn't insult people that don't view themselves as a secretary. 'Cause let's face it, an Administrative Assistant is really just the new name for secretary.

It must be a good week so far...I have more peaks than valleys!

On the Fence...

I was still on the fence about starting a garden until last night. We received a couple of those tiny pots with seeds to plant yourself for Easter and last night the Prince and I did a "project". Basically you get the little pellet of dirt wet and then plant 4-5 seeds and wait for them to grow. The Prince was so excited about the prospect of something growing that he had to check them about ten times before bed. So...I'm going for it!! This weekend I'm planning to start some more seedlings and keep them in our sun filled porch until late May. I guess our last freeze is approximately May 21st so I'm about 6 weeks out to start some of my seedlings.

I am a complete newbie regarding this stuff! I have a bunch of seed packets that I picked up at my company's annual meeting (for free!) and I hope that they are still good. The Husband is going to make me some raised beds with all the leftover building material in our garage (free again!) and I just got an email this morning about some organic compost that I can purchase for "dirt" cheap (yeah, I went there) and it will be delivered right to my work. It all seems fortuitous so I guess it was meant to be. Now I just need to pick up some enriched soil and start a'plantin'!

I found this great tool at the Gardener's Supply Company website and here's what I have picked out so far...

This is the map for my 3 foot by 6 foot by 10 inches raised bed garden. This tool also gives you a step by step instruction guide on the best way to plant each type of vegetable that you choose - essential when talking to a black thumbed newbie! This is pretty ambitious for me so I am going to reserve the right to scale back slightly!!

Basically I chose vegetables that I like and I know my family will eat and are simple to grow. I figure the more leeway I give myself the better! I also want to try my hand at canning pickles (hence the cucumbers and dill). I have no idea if these veges will grow well together or if they will strangle each other out, but it's all worth a shot right? Again, this is my first attempt at this so I think as long as I get the plant to grow out of the dirt I'll consider it a success!

I'll also need to fence the entire thing in like Fort Knox. I'm hoping that chicken wire can keep all the animals out and my friend and fellow blogger gave me the idea of using a pepper spray to keep the insects from having their fill. You literally use pepper flakes and water and spray the leaves of the plant. She actually saves the pepper seeds that you would normally throw away while cooking and makes her own from scratch! I'm hoping to score some chicken wire for free too (Craig's List here I come!)

By posting this for the world to see I'm hoping it will keep me honest and actually DO this project. Not just for my son but for me and my whole family. If this whole garden thing works out my next project will be to start my own compost. I guess we all need to start being more green, eh?

To Garden or Not to Garden

I've been toying with the idea of starting a garden. I LOVE fresh vegetables and fruit and I LOVE the idea of having them right outside my door for pennies on the dollar. Despite my apprehension about all the work that it will entail, I find something completely succinct about cooking dinner and having vegetables right there for the taking. However, I tend to have what most would call a Black Thumb. Basically my house is where plants go to die. Bamboo, a cactus, a spider plant, and a fern, these are just a few of the plants that I've owned and have now succumb to the big nursery in the sky. So, here's my dilemma.

To Plant:

• I love fresh vegetables and fruit.
• I want to teach my kids how to be responsible for their own livelihood and not to HAVE to depend on someone else to get their nutrients.
• I want my children to know what good, organic food tastes like.
• My father always had a garden and I can remember just going and picking a carrot, washing it off with the hose and eating right there for an afternoon snack. I want this for my kids too!
• I want to get all of my gardening cataclysm's out of the way before my kids can remember!
• It seems to be "en vogue" lately so there is a ton of really neat stuff available!
• Spending money on items that I know I could get for much cheaper makes me very angry.
• I would enjoy having a reason to go outside and spend time with my kids.
• It would be nice to start a compost pile and have less garbage!

Not to Plant

• It seems like A LOT of work.
• I'd have to pull weeds and get dirty with the spiders and other creepy crawlies!
• I'd have to build raised beds 'cause ain't no way am I eating anything out of the ground where I live! I live in the Saint Paul proper and I'm pretty sure our dirt glows green sometimes.
• We currently rent a house and I hate to put all the work and money into someone else's property - especially since I won't be able to take it with me!
• We have an abundance of wild life in our neighborhood. You know, stray cats, birds, squirrels, rabbits, and I swear I saw an opossum awhile ago. I don't want to create a shmorgus board for them! Therefore I would have to build friggin' Fort Knox just to keep them away and I'm not great with mason work.
• I probably wouldn't have time to do much of it during the week and therefore I would get frustrated with all the work for the weekends and then it would just get left...you can see what is now a vicious circle in my life!
• Would it just be worth my time and effort to go to the Farmers Market and pick up fresh vegetables for the week? Of course this opens up the whole debacle of waking up early enough to get there in time for all the good stuff. Me+waking early on a Saturday=Cranky Momma!

You can see I have quite the conundrum! Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Also, any good ideas on how to do a container garden that is portable (say when we finally scrounge up enough moolah for a down payment!)

Thanks for reading and Happy Spring!!